Clalit to Buy 10% of Herzliya Medical Center for NIS 120 Million
Israel's largest HMO Clalit exercises its right of first refusal to acquire a 10% stake in Herzliya Medical Center, blocking Wiz founders from entering and raising its ownership to 50%.
Israel's largest health maintenance organization, Clalit, has decided to exercise its right of first refusal to acquire a 10% stake in Herzliya Medical Center from businessman Yair Landau for NIS 120 million. The transaction values the private medical center at NIS 1.2 billion.
Blocking the Wiz Founders' Bid
Landau had previously reached an agreement to sell the 10% stake to the founders of cybersecurity giant Wiz, led by Assaf Rappaport, Yinon Costica, Ami Luttwak, and Roy Reznik. The Wiz founders entered negotiations after the Ministry of Health blocked a prior deal to sell a 25% stake to energy tycoon Yitzhak Tshuva for NIS 275 million.
Because the proposed deal with the Wiz founders would have allowed Landau to retain their voting rights in the boardroom, he would have maintained effective control of the hospital. This prompted the Ministry of Health and Clalit to intervene.
New Ownership Structure
Following the transaction, the ownership of Herzliya Medical Center will be structured as follows:
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Clalit increases its stake from 40% to 50%, gaining joint control;
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Yair Landau decreases his holding from 50% to 40% (while retaining ownership of the hospital's 9,000-square-meter real estate);
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Clal Insurance retains its 10% stake.
Shift in Health Ministry Policy
Ministry of Health Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov has championed a policy requiring public HMOs to hold controlling stakes in private hospitals to ensure public medicine interests are prioritized.
This marks a complete reversal of the ministry's 2021 stance, when it blocked Clalit from increasing its stake in the Herzliya facility to 50%. A similar regulatory intervention occurred recently when the ministry conditioned the merger of Medica and Rafael hospitals on HMO Leumit purchasing a 22% stake.
In a letter to Clalit's leadership, led by Eytan Wertheim and Yohanan Locker, the Ministry of Health stated:
"The ministry expects Clalit to control the volume of surgeries performed at the hospital in a manner that benefits public medicine, and to maintain control over the hospital's board of directors."
Established in 1982, Herzliya Medical Center employs approximately 600 people and is managed by CEO Danny Engel. The facility performs about 26,000 surgeries annually, specializing in complex cardiothoracic, neurosurgical, and oncological procedures.
